Well, now they have a freeway up to the site, so they can bring in the heavy equipment to deal with the site. Sounds smart to me.
Devon, “they would get done too soon and have nothing to do”, Oh well! Gee! That mindset sure explains a lot. I mean, really, it explains a whole lot. But I am not allowed to say what I am thinking, because “its too mean”. But now I understand.
How BNSF and Marathon Oil plan to abate the problem without elevating the freeway.
Tiny bubbles. Yep, bubbles of air to oxygenate the oil eating bacteria.
Who’da thunk?
I saw on the learning channel, where the scoop up the dirt and run it through a mobile, rotating kiln. Like a cement kiln. It burns off all the hydrocarbons (oil) and then they return the soil to where it was.
David Maynard said:
I saw on the learning channel, where the scoop up the dirt and run it through a mobile, rotating kiln. Like a cement kiln. It burns off all the hydrocarbons (oil) and then they return the soil to where it was.
That might work, except the oil has seeped 170 feet deep.
And? they can dig a 170 foot deep trench. They have motorized equipment these days that could do that rather easily.
I think that they want to avoid disturbing the aquifer, which is 170 feet down at that point. Its more than just a trench, too, its the whole former yard.
Steve,
Do you remember the big cleanup in Skykomish a few years back? Dug up the entire town in parts to keep oil from going into the Skykomish river. Not 150’ deep, but it was a huge multi-year project.
David Maynard said:
Well, now they have a freeway up to the site, so they can bring in the heavy equipment to deal with the site. Sounds smart to me.
Devon, “they would get done too soon and have nothing to do”, Oh well! Gee! That mindset sure explains a lot. I mean, really, it explains a whole lot. But I am not allowed to say what I am thinking, because “its too mean”. But now I understand.
I too am a gooberment employee (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
Devon, like I said, Now I understand.
'Splains a lot, doesn’t it, David? (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Quoting the last paragraph of the History of Hillyard, that I posted, the intention to clean up began in 2004 13 years ago. Add in Devon’s estimate of up to 10 years more, you won’t have a freeway anytime soon.
“The former shop area is heavily contaminated with lead and other heavy metals from years of industrial activity. Burlington Northern entered the property into Washington state’s voluntary cleanup program in 2004.”
– Jesse Tinsley
Published: May 12, 2014, midnight
Yeah, it’s a mess, as one would expect. Even though being abandoned for decades, weeds won’t grow, most places.
And the deeper you go, the heavier concentration of oil is. (gravity).
One of my jobs back in my construction period of my life was working for a company that specialized in contaminated soil remediation.
I was the super on a team that was licensed by the EPA to remove old fuel tanks from the many abandoned gas and fuel oil stations in rural Washington and Idaho. Very interesting work.
For example we cleaned up an old dispersing center in Coeur d’ Alene. After the tanks were removed, we got down 40’ and the loads of soil in the excavator bucket got smellier and smellier. You could literally light them on fire. I forgot how many 17 yard dump trucks of soil we took to the “dirt farm”, but it was a lot.
The Hillyard spill is prolly several thousands time bigger than a small gas station or fueling dock. That’s why the dirt can’t be removed and replaced. And the depth (to the aquifer) is a consideration.
When they reclaimed the old steel mill site here in Pittsburgh, there were a few “hot spots” where they could not build. The contamination was too bad. They became green spaces and were supposed to be monitored. Now, over 10 years later, I see that they are building on one of the so called hot spots.
I was able to walk around the round house today. The foot print is still there with most of the concrete foundation. But thats about it.
The stalls are different lengths. I footprint of the turn table is still there and I passed it off at about 120 feet.
Devon,
Did you take a look at the Fire Rail Museum on N. Greene St.?
Happened to bump on this site and this topic and joined up.
Hillyard, the Great Northern and I go way back. I grew up in Hillyard in the 1950s - it was a nice, neat working class community in those days. My grandfather and uncle worked for the Great Northern for many years. My uncle worked in Hillyard but then transferred to the main train station in downtown Spokane. When they tore down the station about 1973 to make way for the World’s Fair in 1974, he refused to attend the fair because they had torn down “his” train station! - Yes, he was a GN man to the death!
I remember well hearing the cars “crash” during the night from my bed as they would form up another train.
About 1979 or 1980, a friend and I went down to the Hillyard yards, largely closed by that time and took a few pictures, just a few years before it all went away.
I’m always interested in hearing more about the Hillyard yards and the GN in the Pacific Northwest.
I love all the details in this picture, the mismatched doors, the way the end and side of the building looks like its been repaired a number of times, the two different styles of windows on the right hand wall.
